As of 2010, nearly 35 million elementary school-aged children live in the United States, and more than 1.5 million people are employed as elementary school teachers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, despite the 1.5 million strong U.S. teacher corps, there are still numerous low income and geographically isolated areas that are suffering from teacher shortages. The majority of teachers in the U.S. belong to unions, which have helped maintain relatively good wages and benefits in the profession.
Education and Licensing for Teaching Jobs
All teaching jobs today require a college degree. Almost all elementary school teachers have at least a bachelor's degree, and many have a master's degree. Elementary teachers, like all teachers in the U.S., are licensed by the state they teach in, and most states require a certain amount of coursework in pedagogy and other education-related subjects before you can become licensed. Many states also require that teachers demonstrate their expertise by passing a subject area exam in the subject they are going to teach.
Average Annual Elementary Teacher Salary Ranges by Experience
Teacher salaries generally range from $30,000 to $65,000, with significant geographic variation. According to Pay Scale, the average annual salary range in 2011 for an elementary school teacher with one to four years experience is $30,404 to $41,316, with five to nine years experience the range is $35,393 to $49,197, with 10 to 19 years experience the range is $39,700 to $61,239, and with 20+ years of experience the range is $45,128 to $69,102.
Average Annual Elementary Teacher Salary Ranges by City
The pay for elementary teacher jobs does vary significantly by city. Keep in mind that there are several federal and state programs to encourage teachers to teach in under-served areas. Pay Scale lists the average annual salary range in 2011 for an elementary teacher in Houston, Texas as $40,290 to $48,349, as $40,535 to $69,064 in Los Angeles, California, and $39,475 to $61,198 in New York City.
Teacher Job Benefits
Teachers generally have good benefit packages including insurance, sick pay and vacation pay as part of their contracts, especially in unionized districts. However, most teachers usually just work 10 months out of the year and some have to supplement their income with tutoring or part-time teaching jobs.
For more on careers in education and teaching jobs see:
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Clayton Browne - Clayton Browne has a BA and an MS in Anthropology, and has been writing professionally since 1994. He worked for many years in both ...
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